I created this blog to record my various experiences with building and weaving on a warp weighted loom. Since then I have decided to not only blog my loom activities, but all the other projects that distract me along the way.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Yesterday I was able to head out to an event and just hang out weaving and spinning a little on the side of the field. It was fun. The warp that the class built a couple months ago is a little wonky (the tension is a little off), but I still managed to weave about a foot while I was out there. It's having a draw-in problem that I suspect is due to inconsistent tension when the warp was card woven. Regardless, it was nice to just weave and chat with people. I like to explain how the loom works and I hope there will be more people joining me in the future.
I was reminded of the old problem of dissatisfaction that people who make things often face. I carry around various pieces that different classes have woven or I have made for practice. I don't use them for anything as they are just practice in my book. One woman really liked them and wanted to know what I planned to do with them. She really wanted to use one as a bag strap. Since I had no plan for it, I gave it to her. Because they are practice pieces, I considered them inferior. She's not the first person to ask, but most everyone else is a friend and I thought they were just being nice - Lesson learned.

Yes...I'm in the background. I'm lucky that Gabriel is so adorable so I have a picture :)

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Do you ever start a project and realize you could easily go on for months without stopping, but there's a due date and you have to finish whether you want to or not? That's what it felt like for Ardien and Lisa's clothes. So...I took them back and added some more things.

Mainly finished some stitching on Lisa's dress. Added 14 hand drawn triskeles, embroidered in blue silk using split stitch and satin stitch. I don't profess to be an expert embroidered - I think I'm soundly in the "she tried real hard" category, but they came out pretty well.

I also added some additional hand stitching around the neck of Ardien's tunics. I used a stitch called Cable Chain stitch as it looked like a Knight's chain to me. I used silver and blue silk.

Given my time frame and the parameters personally and artistically that I had to work in, I'm pretty happy without how they turned out over all. I could still keep going, but I'm happier with the additions and they wanted to wear their clothes :)

Today there was a local teaching event put on by the Barony of Marcaster (St. Pete area of Florida). I taught another warp weighted weaving class. I think it went well. Those that stayed and hung out with me learned the basic mechanics. I was happy that when I went to lunch, they were able to finish the warp themselves. When I came back we were then able to work as a group to finish building the new warp and adding the weights. The hardest part about teaching a warp weighted loom class is the length of time required. Warping is not a speedy process and when I teach at a class event, people tend to wander in and out because there are other classes that they want to take. I find it best to just start in the morning and keeping going to then end of the day. People wander in and ask questions, learn a bit, and wander back out.

What you can see in the picture is my Oseburg tablet weaving loom and my warping board (travel size). In this picture, the loom has ten cards on it and they are alternating S and Z. Not only does this make a pretty herringbone pattern, but it creates a strong band for the warp to hand from (trick I learned at Pennsic from Mistress Thora). I started this warp and was very happy to come back and find they had worked on it so we could pick back up after lunch.

Friday, September 11, 2015

After a weeks of sewing in every free minute I had, I finished Ardien and Lisa's Coronation clothes. All period materials and period techniques whenever possible. All visible stitching except the hems and internal seams were done by hand - and I still want to do more so I brought the clothes back home with me. All trim was hand woven (not by me this time - between kids and work, just wasn't enough time).
Keep watching for updates as I add more to them I'll post more detailed pictures.

Friday, August 14, 2015

So I'm working on a clothing project at the moment. It's an early Norman outfit for a man and a woman. As I'm working on pieces I will post them here.
I posted this pic on a Facebook page so I figured I should post it here too.
It's blue silk with Triskele rondels in silver silk. This was all done with split stitch.